Synthetic elements in the periodic table. Animation showing the elements of the periodic table that are produced artificially in nuclear reactors or particle accelerators. These are highlighted (flash) at the start of the animation. Some were discovered outside the laboratory, but all the elements heavier than uranium (the transuranium or transuranic elements) do not occur naturally on Earth and were first discovered by synthesis. All are radioactive. The animation zooms in on the heaviest 15 of these, the transactinides, the heaviest of the 118 elements in the modern periodic table. These elements, and their discovery dates, are: rutherfordium (1966), dubnium (1968), seaborgium (1974), bohrium (1981), hassium (1984), meitnerium (1982), darmstadtium (1994), roentgenium (1994), copernicium (1996), ununtrium (2003), flerovium (1999), ununpentium (2003), livermorium (2000), ununseptium (2010), and ununoctium (2002). The animation then highlights the final six elements, all of which had temporary names (beginning 'unun-') until two of them were officially named in 2012: flerovium and livermorium. The other four had their names formally announced on 30th November 2016, as nihonium (113), moscovium (115), tennessine (117) and oganesson (118). |